KB News Desk
What started as a playful attempt to turn a misunderstanding about the city’s name into a tourism campaign is becoming a permanent fixture of Gimcheon.
After drawing large crowds with its annual Gimbap Festival, the North Gyeongsang Province city is now dedicating a roughly 250-meter stretch across from Gimcheon Station to the Korean staple.
Despite the name, the planned Gimbap Street will not be limited to gimbap restaurants. Snack stalls and cafes can participate, along with stores selling gimbap-themed merchandise and souvenirs.
The area will feature gimbap-themed murals, a symbolic entrance gate, photo zones and nighttime lighting.
The city aims to complete the street by year-end, with some elements expected to be ready ahead of this year’s Gimbap Festival slated for Oct. 23-25.
“Since a lot of people will be coming for the Gimbap Festival, we plan to get the more visible work done first, such as the murals, benches, lighting and installations, and then focus on the finer details after the festival,” the official told The Korea Herald.
The move is part of the city’s effort to transform the festival’s viral success into a year-round tourism draw and bring more visitors to its old downtown.
The city’s unlikely association with gimbap began with a linguistic coincidence. “Gimcheon” is commonly used in Korea as shorthand for Gimbap Cheonguk, or “Gimbap Heaven,” a ubiquitous budget restaurant chain.
When a city survey found that many people, particularly younger Koreans, associated Gimcheon more with the restaurant chain than the actual city, officials decided to play along.
The resulting Gimcheon Gimbap Festival became an unexpected hit. Its inaugural edition in 2024 drew more than 100,000 visitors, despite the city initially expecting only a fraction of that number. The festival returned in 2025, drawing some 150,000 visitors.
